Dear Katie,
A lot has changed since we were kids going to St. Mary’s of the Annunciation together (for example, I finally learned how to spell that!). We’ve not only grown up— I can hardly call a 16-year-old a kid— but we’ve matured and developed new opinions and interests.
Remember, way back when, when I swore I’d never give in to common, popularness (not to mention criminalness, as our small Catholic school didn’t carry any copies) of the Harry Potter series? The avid, curious reader in me couldn’t resist. While I still love classical music, songs from various musicals like Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked have taken center stage on my I-Pod. Not everything has changed though. I still read just about every book I can get my hands on. I am still the goody-two-shoes who follows the rules and is terrified of getting a tardy— horrified at the thought of a detention.
While many things about me have remained the same, even more has changed. I’m not the same girl who got pushed around by Alexis. Moving from school to school— remember the saga of the three middle schools— has changed me. I am stronger than I used to be. I feel the need to adapt a quote from the Lion King: “Bullies? I laugh in the face of bullies!” I’ve learned how to stand strong in the ever-burying high tide that is our peers and threatens to crush us all. I’ve learned how to make friends in unlikely places and to give everyone a chance, maybe two. And I’ve learned that, while going to the movies with friends is fun, going ice-skating is so much better.
All this talk of learning and I haven’t even mentioned school yet! St. Joe is very different from St. Mary’s. Where St. Mary’s was a (slightly) rural school of 175 students, grades kindergarten- 8th, St. Joe has approximately 1,000 students and is in downtown St. Joseph. Mine is a school of much greater diversity; you have your druggies and drunkies as well as your academic challenge team and Nation Honors Society. As for drama, this school has not just a single, mandatory Christmas pageant with leads drawn out of a hat. St. Joe has a fall musical and a spring play.
While all these new experiences are great, the old memories are sweeter. Do you remember the days in the school parking lot when we would pretend to be kites, stretching out our green plaid skirts and letting the wind blow us where it would? I do. I remember when we would swing until we touched the sky and, laughing, fell back down, down, down onto the rich, earthy smelling mulch. Do you? I’m sure you remember the SAP club, even if you can’t remember what it stood for— that changed nearly every day. I am positive you remember getting sent, fingers sticking to each other, to wash our hands after recess as they were covered in, you guessed it, sap from the pine trees at the parking lot’s edge. Do you remember the rainy recesses spent huddling under the old crab apple tree? I remember the day they cut that old tree, gnarled and twisted as it was, down. We paid homage by collecting the broken flowers and petals and setting them loose into the wind to be blown all the way to heaven.
One of the first things that changed after I moved to Michigan was the abolition of recess. That signaled an end to the carefree, happy days, when we could be a pair of colorful kites blowing all the way up to heaven. I guess the point of this entire letter is to say that a lot has changed, more than could ever be expressed in words. One thing has definitely not changed— well two if you count the fact that I still can’t spell— the vows of eternal best-friend-ship made under the beloved crab apple tree have been kept.
Love,
Julia
Statement of Purpose:
In this letter I took out unnecessary words and some of the requirements in the assignment that didn't work well in the piece.
A lot has changed since we were kids going to St. Mary’s of the Annunciation together (for example, I finally learned how to spell that!). We’ve not only grown up— I can hardly call a 16-year-old a kid— but we’ve matured and developed new opinions and interests.
Remember, way back when, when I swore I’d never give in to common, popularness (not to mention criminalness, as our small Catholic school didn’t carry any copies) of the Harry Potter series? The avid, curious reader in me couldn’t resist. While I still love classical music, songs from various musicals like Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked have taken center stage on my I-Pod. Not everything has changed though. I still read just about every book I can get my hands on. I am still the goody-two-shoes who follows the rules and is terrified of getting a tardy— horrified at the thought of a detention.
While many things about me have remained the same, even more has changed. I’m not the same girl who got pushed around by Alexis. Moving from school to school— remember the saga of the three middle schools— has changed me. I am stronger than I used to be. I feel the need to adapt a quote from the Lion King: “Bullies? I laugh in the face of bullies!” I’ve learned how to stand strong in the ever-burying high tide that is our peers and threatens to crush us all. I’ve learned how to make friends in unlikely places and to give everyone a chance, maybe two. And I’ve learned that, while going to the movies with friends is fun, going ice-skating is so much better.
All this talk of learning and I haven’t even mentioned school yet! St. Joe is very different from St. Mary’s. Where St. Mary’s was a (slightly) rural school of 175 students, grades kindergarten- 8th, St. Joe has approximately 1,000 students and is in downtown St. Joseph. Mine is a school of much greater diversity; you have your druggies and drunkies as well as your academic challenge team and Nation Honors Society. As for drama, this school has not just a single, mandatory Christmas pageant with leads drawn out of a hat. St. Joe has a fall musical and a spring play.
While all these new experiences are great, the old memories are sweeter. Do you remember the days in the school parking lot when we would pretend to be kites, stretching out our green plaid skirts and letting the wind blow us where it would? I do. I remember when we would swing until we touched the sky and, laughing, fell back down, down, down onto the rich, earthy smelling mulch. Do you? I’m sure you remember the SAP club, even if you can’t remember what it stood for— that changed nearly every day. I am positive you remember getting sent, fingers sticking to each other, to wash our hands after recess as they were covered in, you guessed it, sap from the pine trees at the parking lot’s edge. Do you remember the rainy recesses spent huddling under the old crab apple tree? I remember the day they cut that old tree, gnarled and twisted as it was, down. We paid homage by collecting the broken flowers and petals and setting them loose into the wind to be blown all the way to heaven.
One of the first things that changed after I moved to Michigan was the abolition of recess. That signaled an end to the carefree, happy days, when we could be a pair of colorful kites blowing all the way up to heaven. I guess the point of this entire letter is to say that a lot has changed, more than could ever be expressed in words. One thing has definitely not changed— well two if you count the fact that I still can’t spell— the vows of eternal best-friend-ship made under the beloved crab apple tree have been kept.
Love,
Julia
Statement of Purpose:
In this letter I took out unnecessary words and some of the requirements in the assignment that didn't work well in the piece.